Improvement in making barrels



4UNITED i STATES PATENT r FHILLIP WERUM, OF BERLIN,'OHIO. I

IMPROVEMENT IN MAKING BAaRI-:I- s

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 39,694, datedAugust 25, 1863. I

To all' whom/ may concern:

IiBeit known that I, PHILLIP WERUM, of Berlin, inthe county of 'Holmes and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Making Barrels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and complete description ofthe construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in Which- Figure 1 is a top view of the clamp-frame for holding the staves while being jointed. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section. Fig. 4 is a view of the expanding drum. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the saine. Fig. 6 is an end view of the drum within the barrel. Fig. 7 is an end view of a log from which the staves are prepared. Fig. 8 shows the plan of sawing the bolts into plank, and Fig. 9 shows the plan of sawing the plank into staves.`

In making the staves, I rst cut a log to the proper length for the staves, and divide it into bolts of nearly equal sizesay six or eight-as represented by the radial lines in Fig. 7. I then take these bolts and saw them into plank of the desired width of the stave, in the direction of the lines A A A, Svc., in Fig. 8. I now take the plank or bolts thus formed and saw them into staves, as indicated in Fig. 9, a triangular piece of wood being rejected, but which will make one stave narrower than the rest, but when accumulated in sufficient numbers can be used in the same manner as other staves. I have in this manner all my staves prepared of the required proportional length and width for barrels and casks of various kinds, either bulged or straight. The rough staves prepared as above have a uniform length, width, and thickness, with square edges, which are sufficiently near at right angles to the silver grain of the Wood to render them efficient for tight work. I now calculate the diameter of my barrel or cask, as the case may be, and determine thereby the requisite bevel that each stave should have, and the required difference between the Width of the middle for the bulge and the ends, to which bevel and form a large number are cut at once in the manner hereinafter described. In order to do this with fa` cility and accuracy, I construct a jointingclamp. (Shown in Figs. 1, 2, and3 in different positions.) The side pieces, B, V`that,"V press against the ends of the staves, are moved by screws 0 or by any other convenient device. The edges of the staves rest upon the tim; bersD D, upon each end of which are secured the beveled rests E E and F F. Those shown at E E have an angle of aboutone hundredide'- grees from the face of the timbers DD, while those shown at F Fhave an angle of about eighty degrees from the face of the timbers 'D D, which angle is equal to thatl of the stave. The unjointed staves G are placed upon the frame, as represented in Fig. 2, the whole space being filled, and a line drawn along the ends to mark the amount to be removed to give the desired bulge to the barrel, or, if the vessel is to be in the shape of the frustum of a coneto give the staves the desired taper. I now, with a hand-plane or with a planingmachine, cut down the staves to the desired bevel and taper. When one edge of the staves is thus cut to the form desired, I turn them in the clamp so as to bring the unjointed edges upward, and bevel and taper them in the same way. If a barrel is to be twenty inches in diameter at the head, sixteen staves of four inches width in the middle should be used. If the staves are narrower, the angle ofthe edge must approach nearer to the right angle. If a less number are used, the angle should be varied accordingly, and the beveled rests E and F varied to correspond. The staves thus prepared are set up in the usual manner, With Aa truss-hoop upon each end, which should be driven on about one-third of the distancefrom the end to the center. I then place the barrel upon the expanding drum, for the purpose of turning the outside in a lathe, cutting and grooving the chine preparatory to receiving the head. This expansion-drum consists of a shaft, H, about an inch and a half in diameter and about three feet in length, a hub, I, in the center, to which is attached a series of arms, J J, Src. Upon the under side of these arms and near their outer ends are attached the braces K byapin-joint orarticulation. Theinnerendsof these braces are all attached to a sleeve, L, by an articulation or pin joint, as shown in Fig. 5. The length of the braces K is such that if the sleeve L is shoved toward the hub I theouter ends of the arms expand, and when the sleeve is drawn away from the hub the outer ends of the arms `contract. A screw-thread is cut upon each end ofthe shaft H, and a nut, M, ru'n on, Which presses against the outer end of the sleeve and crowds it toward the hub I, thus expanding' the ends of the arms. In introducing this drum into the barrel the arms are contracted by running both nuts M outward from the hub until the drum Will readily enter the barrel. The drum is then expanded until it presses firmly against the inside of the barrel, and the arms, being previously turned on" in a lathe so that the circumferenceoi'V each is equidistant from the axis of rotation of the shaft H, the staves composing the barrel will also be brought equidistant from the axis of rotation. I now place the barrel and drum in a lathe of suitable dimensions, and turn the outside into its required form, and by means of' a suitable tool I cut the chine and groove Afor the head at the same time. The drum is then removed from the lathe, land part of the permanent hoops Idriven on, and the truss-hoops removed. v'lhen, byreplacing the drum and barrel in the lathe again, theturning of the outside can benished and the balance of the hoops set.

A single drum constructed as herein set forth can be used for various-sized casks or barrels, or for tubs or vessels that are tapering like the frustum of a cone.

An important feature in this invention is Ythat a uniform Width of stave can be used,

and the bevel so regulated that the joints are all perfect, Whatever the number of staves used. v

What I claim as. my improvement, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

- 1. Cutting the staves from the bolts, prepared as herein described, by sawing first into plank Whose thickness shall equal the Width of the stave, and then cutting them in the op- PHlLLIP WERUM.y

Witnesses J. BRAINERD, J. LEONARD, 

